Chapter 1 - Here Comes the Sun
The Beatles
The girl known as Ren sat silently next to Haku and Zabuza's limp bodies and stared blankly ahead while rain sprinkled. The rain was warm and perhaps would have been a comfort in other circumstances, but there was nothing that could comfort the girl at that moment.
I couldn't stop it… Even with all my knowledge, I couldn't change anything… She thought to herself quietly. Her comrades, weary from battle, were also at a loss of words it seemed, although for different reasons. This was their first "real" mission and despite their strength, Ren recognized that they were, after all, only children. No one was spared injury, and in another world Ren would have described most of her team's wounds as "quite fatal". But she had learned that shinobi had an uncanny way of defying death by pure willpower alone.
Her eyes moved to Sasuke who stood solemnly a few feet away. She had thought he was dead only a few minutes before, but there he stood, and she wondered how he remained so composed and blasé to the surrounding circumstances.
She looked back to the dead who were beginning to grow cold. She had witnessed this scene before, or rather read it once or twice in years past. In those days she had cried for the heartbreaking final sacrifice of Haku and the forgiveness of Zabuza in his final moments. But this time she sat still, too overwhelmed at the reality and finality of this moment. This was no "story". She thought she had been in pain when she read it back then… how little she had known.
Ren's life had become a perpetual "Deja vu", her own personal Hell where she alone was cursed with this knowledge and seemed unable to use it for any good. Her eyes started to fill with tears. She blinked them away.
Their leader Kakashi was the first to break the silence. "Well… Let's give them a proper funeral. Naruto come help me with Haku…"
As they walked to the burial spot, one overlooking a hill if Ren remembered correctly, she continued to ponder her purpose in these events. She wondered why she had been brought to this world. Was she supposed to prevent something from happening? Or was she simply hallucinating somewhere in a mental facility about being in some old manga series... The thought made her feel ill.
She racked her brain for the last memory of the "old world" again. She had been walking home from the university's library, biochemistry book in hand, nothing out of the ordinary… And then nothing. No lights flashing- just blankness.
The next thing she knew she was waking up in some old fashioned hospital bed very confused. When she looked into the mirror she did not see twenty-two year old Karen, but rather a young teenage version of herself. Except that this teenager lacked the familiar scar above her right eyebrow from a dog bite in the third grade, and had much longer hair than she had ever grown. To say she was shocked wouldn't begin to cover it.
During that event she hadn't had much time at all before she was escorted by two odd, yet familiarly dressed men to see the 'Hokage'. She had hoped of course that it was all a big scam in the beginning. That the Hokage would throw off his cap and yell "Welcome to Comic Con!" or something of that nature, but that hadn't been the case. The third Hokage had been as serious and contemplative as he always had appeared in the manga. Much of their meeting had been in silence after having asked her the standard "get to know you/interrogation questions" while he flipped through an old file at his desk.
As she slugged through the rain her mind took her back to the details of that first day.
"How old are you?" The Hokage had asked. He looked at a picture of Karen in his hands. It was one that was in her backpack with her at the library the night before. She was hugging a roommate in the photo. The photo had been taken less than 2 weeks before.
"Twenty-two." She said. One of the men scoffed in the back. The Hokage revealed nothing and wrote something down in the file.
"Ka, Ren - are you aware of how you arrived here?" The Hokage said. She realized that he must have assumed that Ka was her surname.
"I was hoping you could tell me, sir." Karen had offered in reply.
He stared deeply into her eyes for a moment and then looked at his file again. "My men found you just inside the city limits. You caused quite the commotion in the trees, I hear… Several were knocked down when they found you laying there. They'd never seen anything like it." He looked to one of the men standing in the corner of the room.
"...Oh." Was all she could manage to say. Her heart sank. She had been hoping that he would have the answer to sending her home.
He waited a moment to reply, "Are you sure you don't remember anything?" His question felt to her as if it were loaded with something heavier than just her arrival here.
She looked him in the eyes. "I wish I did."
They sat in silence for a minute as he continued to stare into her eyes, measuring her integrity she supposed. Eventually she was escorted out and sent to a hotel of sorts for the next few days to await her results of the "trial".
On the fourth day relief finally came.
A knock was heard at the door.
"Come in." Karen had called.
She turned to face the man who had peeked his head in. He had a voluminous amount of gray hair, although the color was not from age (on the contrary he was quite young and handsome) and wore a very distinctive dark blue mask.
Kakashi.
Karen couldn't help but stare just a bit too long. She had been in close contact with Kakashi Hatake for a couple days now, the two men who had initially escorted her were no longer assigned to her for reasons she did not know. Seeing him as a real person was still so odd. But there he was flesh and bone… not just pen and paper. And here she was staring, trying to rationalize this dream, but he was very real.
She looked away; after all it was rude to be prying into one's existence so early in the morning.
"Ah, Ren, the Hokage has made a conclusion."
"Right, I'm ready to go."
She followed the man out the door. He put his hands in his pockets and walked casually in front of her as they went outside. It wasn't too far of a walk, the Hokage had wanted to keep her close, but it still felt like an eternity. She wondered about having her fate in the palms of a man she did not believe actually existed.
They entered the building, and she could see the Third Hokage there, looking deep in thought as he mulled over various papers on his desk. As she stepped to walk in, Kakashi gave her a squinty masked smile.
"Good luck."
She returned the smile half-heartedly, and turned to face her fate.
Karen walked in the room and sat down quietly. There were four people in the room this time. None of which she recognized. The Hokage remained focused on whatever was occupying him, and didn't make any eye contact. She wondered if he knew she was even there.
After a long moment he spoke. "I have reached a conclusion regarding your... peculiar entrance into our village."
Karen nodded.
"You understand that it is a security risk of ours to just let you go after something of this nature has occurred." He paused for effect. Karen's stomach clenched. "Although you do not appear overtly dangerous, we would like to monitor you for sometime. If your memory returns the information may be useful for our security. In the meantime, as you appear quite young, and have no friends or family in the nearby whereabouts, you may join our ninja academy class. If you acclimate well, you may even go on to become a shinobi of the hidden leaf village if you desire."
Ren could not remember what she felt at that moment, only that she had heard one man immediately object to such accommodations, wishing for Inoichi to take a look at her mind. His coworker murmured in support, citing that it would be a security risk to allow entry of a strange older child into the ninja academy. A single rebuke from the Hokage had silenced them, but Ren couldn't help but agree with the disapproving man. While the Hokage was a kind person she had never thought of him as being incautious. Although perhaps she was easiest to monitor in the academy she'd thought to herself... She'd looked into the third's eyes to gather his intentions, but they had remained a mystery to her. A crystal ball she could not read.
The Hokage had then closed his file and the matter was settled.
The next few days and weeks had been a blur. She had been moved into an apartment, and sent to the academy. As a special request from the Hokage she was not to reveal her actual age, and was deemed fifteen instead.
As if her standing weren't cliche enough, and despite her objections, she was put with the oldest class (a bunch of eleven-year-olds) which included the namesake of the manga series she had infiltrated. She had first read Naruto back when she was twelve years old, ten years ago, but she had enough memories to know what eerie future lay ahead for her quarreling classmates.
Her heart ached for Sasuke from the beginning, not in the way that most of her classmates did (afterall he was just a kid to her), but for what trials awaited him. Naruto was... a handful. She felt towards him initially what she had felt when she read the manga - disinterest. His annoying, childish actions got on her nerves and she understood why Iruka sensei often lost his temper with the young child. However despite her annoyance, she disliked the bullies of the class worse. Since she and Naruto were both at the bottom of the class, she had made an effort to swallow her pride and become friends.
Karen, who had shortened her name to Ren upon entering the academy for simplicity sake, struggled adjusting initially. While being older and studious afforded her good test scores, she might as well have been three-years-old and blind for how it helped her with the actual ninjutsu demonstrations. Six weeks in and she couldn't do anything.
As she stood at her station throwing stars, she remembered why she had been a choir girl in high school and was not involved in anything that required coordination. She missed all of the targets. Multiple times.
Ren had no success with the cloaking jutsu either. But that seemed obvious.
The cloaking jutsu is like magic, I can't just do it.
The other students had soon noticed her failures and made whispered remarks to one another.
"Wow… She's even worse than Naruto."
Ren took a glance at the blond haired Ninja's work. He had somehow managed to change the leaf into a rather pinkish hue. His cloaking jutsu was… awful, but at least it was going somewhere. Ren's was just doing nothing. Her leaf remained green.
Students, one after another, completed the task and were allowed to go home. Soon it was only Naruto and Ren left. Iruka Sensei had been dealing with Naruto and after giving up had come over to see what the problem was with Ren.
Ren said: "I just don't get it. I'm doing everything the scroll says, but nothing is working. Mine just stays green."
Iruka Sensei smiled and said, "I'm sure it will just take some time. Don't worry too much. These kids have been studying for years. You and Naruto are released for today."
She looked up to him, doubtful.
"You aren't going to change it unless you believe you actually can." He'd said with a smile.
His words had struck a chord.
Ren laid on her roof that night and stared up into the night sky. The stars were the only familiar thing about these worlds.
She thought about Iruka's words.
How am I supposed to believe I can, if I don't even really believe in this world!?
Ren pondered on the phrase and noticed her mistake.
If I don't believe in this world, then I can never really live in it… And if I don't live in it how can I ever find a way home?
But if I believe – then, I have to accept that this is real, and that I may never see my friends and family again...
"What an awful paradox." Ren had said as the emotions stirred in her.
And with that, realization finally sunk in. This hadn't been some prolonged nightmare. She was here. And as the grief overwhelmed her, something else deep down took place too: the birth of hope. Maybe if she continued in the Ninja way she would be able to find the way to return home one day.
The next day she had been able to focus her attention on the leaf at the desk in front of her, and make it actually change color right before her eyes.
Iruka sensei had put a hand on her shoulder and stated, "Well done Ren, I knew you could." The others had looked around, unimpressed, but Iruka sensei knew better.
In the next couple of months Ren was surprised to discover that she was in fact quite good at genjutsu, (taijutsu still escaping her for sometime) as if her mind were made for it. It was of course endlessly frustrating to be in a class of preteens, but she was grateful that the pace of the class seemed to allow her time to catch up.
The year had gone by, and while Ren certainly wasn't near the top of the class she had made significant progress. She'd made some friends too, and almost felt at peace with her past. As she had no malicious intentions entering this world, eventually the suspicions surrounding her entrance slacked. While the occupants were engaged in the actual security risks of the ninja world, she became one of the many orphans to quietly occupy the academy until graduation.
"Well Ren, I have to say I'm impressed and surprised." Iruka sensei had said as he looked through her folder. "I thought it was a joke when the Third told me he was sending me a new student. I was certain we'd have to hold you back for a couple of years. But he was insistent..."
"Thank you sir."
"Now, mind you, you still have a long way to go. These students have years of theory on their back. However, with your rate of improvement, I'm proud to say you graduate."
A smile broke across her face displaying dimples. "Thank you sir." She bowed graciously and grabbed her bag.
Upon graduation the next day Ren found out that she had unintentionally booted Sakura out of team seven much to her dismay. This made her nervous for many reasons, one of which being her safety from the infamous Sasuke fangirls. As she sat at her desk that day she felt an icy stare on her back. When Ren looked behind, nearly every female's eyes bore into her.
"You… took our Sasuke…" One whispered indiscreetly.
Ren turned around tensely.
She whispered to her left. "Shikamaru, Save me…"
"Hmph. Save you? I'm stuck with the two insane girls…" Ren diverted her eyes to see Ino and Sakura who were poised like cats ready to attack each other.
"He was supposed to be in my group!" Sakura yelled.
"No mine!" Ino chanted back.
Shikamaru just closed his eyes and sighed.
"Alright everyone feel free to gather with your group; your new sensei will be here shortly." Iruka said with an oblivious grin.
The groups gathered, sat around and mingled one with another. Ren made her escape into the hall. "Sensei."
"Hm? Oh hello there Ren, are you-" Iruka began.
She interjected. "I can't be in this team."
Iruka was confused by her reaction.
"I'm afraid we've had enough trouble as it is making these teams. Our numbers were uneven this year... "
"I mean… Sensei, it's just really important that Sasuke, Sakura and Naruto are together."
He stared thoughtfully at her. Trying to grasp what angle she was coming from.
"I know you've improved much but there is still a lot you can learn from Sasuke, and Naruto too. I'm afraid it's too late, and I can't change –-" Iruka sensei was interrupted again, but this time by a familiar face or- familar mask.
"Ren, are you upset to be working with me again?"
She turned around. There was Kakashi.
"Of course not... You're here on time, Kakashi, I'm surprised..." Ren stated. She hadn't really seen him too much in the past 11-12 months, only when he came on the Third's orders to check up on her occasionally.
"Well, it seemed like an important day..." Kakashi took off towards the classroom to observe his new team.
Ren had distinctly remembered him being late to this very 'important day' in the manga. She wondered tensely what on Earth she had done to make that change…
That had only been a few weeks prior. But in those few weeks team seven had become her best friends. I guess near death experiences do that, she thought.
As the rain cleared up, and the sun began to shine through, Ren's mind came back to the present situation in the land of the hidden Mist.
"What are you making there?" Naruto asked as Ren was putting together two bamboo crosses for the graves.
"Oh, um… Grave markers for them." Ren replied suddenly feeling self-conscious. Naruto looked at the odd cross shape. Ren had forgotten that crosses tended to be headstones only in western nations.
"They look nice." Kakashi said from behind.
"Let me help you finish them." Naruto offered, grabbing some rope.
"Thanks." Ren replied.
While she had expected to feel like an outsider to team seven, she was surprised to actually feel like she actually belonged there. And while she wouldn't readily admit it, she didn't want to give it up.
However the similar deaths of Haku and Zabuza disturbed Ren greatly, and made her wonder whether she should be doing more to change the future…